Systems and methods for dynamic insurance premiums

ABSTRACT

In an example, an insurance premium for a driverless vehicle is calculated by monitoring an amount of time a first occupant is in active control of the driverless vehicle during a period and modifying an insurance rate for a subsequent period based on the amount of time the first occupant is in active control of the driverless vehicle. In another example, an insurance premium for an intelligent vehicle is calculated by receiving at a computerized insurance system, from the intelligent vehicle, an indication of the intelligent vehicle&#39;s condition and calculating the insurance premium for an insurance policy that covers the intelligent vehicle based at least in part on the indication of the intelligent vehicle&#39;s condition.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This patent application claims the benefit of priority, under 35 U.S.C.Section § 119(e), to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.61/600,225, titled “Systems and Methods for Dynamic Insurance Premiums,”filed on Feb. 17, 2012, which is incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

This patent application is also related to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/600,259, titled “Systems and Methods forAdjusting Insurance Rates Based on Vehicle Telematics,” filed on Feb.17, 2012, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to computer systems, and moreparticularly, to systems and methods to provide dynamic insurancepremiums.

BACKGROUND

An insurance policy is a type of contract between an insurance companyand an insured party to cover an asset. In the event of damage to orloss of the asset, the insurance company is obligated to cover theinsured party when a claim is made on the asset. In exchange forinsurance coverage, the insured party pays the insurance company aninsurance premium. In the context of vehicle insurance, insurancepremiums are typically calculated based on industry standard factors,such as vehicle type, driver history, and location of vehicle. In thecontext of life insurance, premiums are calculated based on theinsured's age, lifestyle, occupation, and other factors affectinglongevity.

Insurance premiums are generally set for broad statistical classes ofpeople. In addition, insurance premiums are generally fixed for thelength of a policy, from six months up to a year, or more, in somecases. The combination of these elements may result in premiums that donot match the risk, resulting in lost profits for an insurance companyor overpayment by an insured party.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numeralsmay describe similar components in different views. Like numerals havingdifferent letter suffixes may represent different instances of similarcomponents. Some embodiments are illustrated by way of example, and notlimitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a computer network system, according to anexample embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of components used by aninsurance company to adjust an insurance premium, according to anexample embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a user-interface, according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a method of computing aninsurance premium, according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a method of providing adynamically calculated insurance premium, according to an exampleembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a method of managing an insurancepremium pool, according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a method of calculating aninsurance premium, according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a method of calculating aninsurance premium for a driverless vehicle, according to an exampleembodiment;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a method of calculating aninsurance premium for an intelligent vehicle, according to an exampleembodiment;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a system to record and processvehicle data, according to an example embodiment; and

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a computer system, according toan example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Automobiles are becoming more sophisticated with each new model year.Features once thought to be science fiction are now becomingcommonplace. For example, modern vehicles are being designed with safetysystems to reduce collisions and mitigate those collisions that dooccur. Collision avoidance systems include a wide range of technologiesspanning from anti-lock brakes to headlight tracking systems to obstacleavoidance systems. Collision mitigation systems include things likeinterior and exterior airbag deployment systems, pre-tensioning seatbelts, fuel line cutoff systems, and emergency response alert systems.Collision avoidance and collision mitigation systems are a subset ofintelligent vehicle systems. Vehicle intelligence in this context meansthat a vehicle is able to detect a condition and respond to thecondition.

In the coming years, driverless vehicles may become widely available.Driverless vehicles may also be referred to as autonomous vehicles orrobotic vehicles. In general, a driverless vehicle is capable of sensingits environment and navigating without the aid of a human operator.Vehicles of this type may employ sensors to detect interior and exteriorconditions. Sensors may include devices employed with laser, radar,lidar (Light Detection and Ranging), ladar (Laser Detection andRanging), global positioning systems (GPS), or computer vision. Sensorsmay be integrated with navigation utilities to allow the driverlessvehicle to navigate from an origin to a destination. In addition, adriverless vehicle may be equipped with a vehicular communicationsystem. A vehicular communication system is a network of nodes (e.g.,vehicles, roadside units, and central systems) that provide informationto each other, such as traffic information, safety information, orweather conditions, for example. It has been stated that driverlessvehicles may offer greater safety to both occupants and pedestrians.

Insurance companies, who are generally concerned with reducing liabilityfor property damage and loss of life, have an interest in incentivizingpolicyholders to purchase or use automobiles with more intelligence.

System Level Overview

One mechanism for providing this incentive is by offering an insurancepremium discount for owning or operating an intelligent vehicle, such asa driverless vehicle. Another mechanism is to provide discounts todrivers that choose a safer route over a less safe route. Anothermechanism is to allow a driverless vehicle to control driving,especially in the case of high-risk operators who would otherwise becontrolling the vehicle. Another mechanism is to provide an incrementalpremium program. Other mechanisms of adjusting an insurance premiumbased on the use of intelligent vehicle features are discussed below.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a computer network system 100, accordingto an example embodiment. The computer network system 100 includes aninsurance system 102, a client terminal 104, and a vehicle 106,communicatively coupled via a network 108. In an embodiment, theinsurance system 102 includes a web server 110, an application server112, a messaging server 114, a database management server 116, which isused to manage at least an operations database 118, and a file server120. The insurance system 102 may be implemented as a distributedsystem; for example, one or more elements of the insurance system 102may be located across a wide-area network from other elements of theinsurance system 102. As another example, a server (e.g., web server110, file server 120, or database management server 116) may represent agroup of two or more servers, cooperating with each other, provided byway of a pooled, distributed, or redundant computing model.

The network 108 may include local-area networks (LAN), wide-areanetworks (WAN), wireless networks (e.g., 802.11 or cellular network),the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) network, ad hoc networks,personal area networks (e.g., Bluetooth) or other combinations orpermutations of network protocols and network types. The network 108 mayinclude a single local area network (LAN) or wide-area network (WAN), orcombinations of LAN's or WAN's, such as the Internet. The variousdevices coupled to the network 108 may be coupled to the network 108 viaone or more wired or wireless connections.

The web server 110 may communicate with the file server 120 to publishor serve files stored on the file server 120. The web server 110 mayalso communicate or interface with the application server 112 to enableweb-based presentation of information. For example, the applicationserver 112 may consist of scripts, applications, or library files thatprovide primary or auxiliary functionality to the web server 110 (e.g.,multimedia, file transfer, or dynamic interface functions). In addition,the application server 112 may also provide some or the entire interfacefor the web server 110 to communicate with one or more of the otherservers in the insurance system 102, e.g., the messaging server 114 orthe database management server 116. The web server 110, either alone orin conjunction with one or more other computers in the insurance system102, may provide a user-interface. The user-interface may be implementedusing a variety of programming languages or programming methods, such asHTML (HyperText Markup Language), VBScript (Visual Basic® ScriptingEdition), JavaScript™, XML® (Extensible Markup Language), XSLT™(Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations), AJAX (AsynchronousJavaScript and XML), Java™, JFC (Java™ Foundation Classes), and Swing(an Application Programming Interface for Java™).

In an embodiment, the client terminal 104 may include a client programto interface with the insurance system 102. The client program mayinclude commercial software, custom software, open source software,freeware, shareware, or other types of software packages. In anembodiment, the client program includes a thin client designed toprovide query and data manipulation tools for a user of the clientterminal 104. The client program may interact with a server programhosted by, for example, the application server 112. Additionally, theclient program may interface with the database management server 116.

The operations database 118 may be composed of one or more logical orphysical databases. For example, the operations database 118 may beviewed as a system of databases that when viewed as a compilation,represent an “operations database.” Sub-databases in such aconfiguration may include a product database, a customer database, asales database, a marketing database, a business rules database, areviews database, an insurance claims database, and the like. Theoperations database 118 may be implemented as a relational database, acentralized database, a distributed database, an object orienteddatabase, or a flat database in various embodiments.

During operation, data from one or more data sources is imported intothe operations database 118. Data sources may exist within anorganization, such as a sales department or a subsidiary corporation, orexist at an external source, such as a business affiliate or a publicrecord source. The data may be imported on a scheduled basis, such asweekly, monthly, quarterly, or some other regular or periodic interval.Alternatively, the data may be imported on-demand.

Imported data may include information from internal or external sources.External sources may include, but are not limited to, information fromvehicle manufacturers, the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS)or Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), or the Insurance Service Office,Inc., which provides statistics, rankings, ratings, or other metricsregarding automobile insurance.

Internal sources may include insurance claim information, vehiclepricing information (e.g., privately negotiated purchase price), andinformation from business partners. For example, the provider of theinsurance system may partner with a vehicle purchasing business, wherethe vehicle purchasing business negotiates prices on behalf of users ofthe insurance system. In this way, a user may be provided a preferredprice via the partnership with the vehicle purchasing business. Saledata or pricing data may be imported from the vehicle purchasingbusiness.

Information imported or obtained may represent past or projected vehiclesales, vehicle characteristics (e.g., model, trim, and options),insurance information (e.g., local, state, or national average insurancecoverage and costs), professional reviews, owner reviews, road testdata, and the like. Additionally, information related to insuranceproducts or customers may be imported or accessed. Insurance informationincludes, but is not limited to, information related to the insuredparty (e.g., demographic data, family information, beneficiaryinformation), coverage history (e.g., type, length, amount, insuredassets, and payment history), and claims history.

After data importation, the data may be standardized and then stored ina common database or data mart. For example, database records frombusiness affiliates or other external (or even internal) sources may notbe in a compatible format with the common database or data mart. Dataconditioning may include data rearrangement, normalization, filtering(e.g., removing duplicates), sorting, binning, or other operations totransform the data into a common format (e.g., using similar dateformats, name formats, address fields, etc.).

Once imported and standardized, the data may be considered to be in a“raw” form. That is, the data accurately represents the source data,albeit reformatted or rearranged for the sake of compatibility andconsistency. In an embodiment, the “raw” data is stored for a relativelylong period of time, such as six months or even several years. Thispersistent raw data storage may be useful for various purposes, such asdata backup and restore, data auditing, or data modeling. In anembodiment, the persistent raw data is stored using a moving window ofdata. For example, an administrative user may define a window size ofsix months. When new data is saved in the persistent raw data, dataolder than the window size may be expunged from the persistent raw datastorage. In an embodiment, multiple window sizes are used and eachwindow size may be associated with a particular data. For example,insurance data may be stored using a window size of five years, whilereview data may be stored using a window size of two years. Theretention period may be configurable by a user of the insurance system102, or adjusted automatically by the insurance system 102.

In an example use of the insurance system 102, an insurance policy maybe issued to a policyholder. The policyholder may manage the insurancepolicy through various means, such as by way of telephone or online. Forexample, the insurance company may offer the insurance system 102 sothat the policyholder may access via the client terminal 104 to performmanagement functions with respect to the insurance policy. Adding orremoving vehicles from the policy, adjusting coverage amounts, adding orremoving drivers, changing a physical address, and other routinefunctions may be performed by the policyholder. In addition, thepolicyholder may provide information about a vehicle covered by thepolicy, including information regarding the existence, type, orconfiguration of intelligent features installed or in use by thevehicle. Alternatively, the policyholder may provide the insurancecompany access to the vehicle to evaluate or query the vehicle.

The user may access the insurance system 102 to check in during aoperational period to view the aggregate insurance premiums for theoperational period. For example, a user may check in to see theaggregate insurance premiums for the current month. The user may alsouse the client terminal 104 to access reports and other tools to viewpast usage, project future usage, or model different scenarios toprovide insight into what may change the incremental insurance premiums.Further, the insurance system 102 may provide recommendations to theuser on how to change behavior to reduce premiums. In some embodiments,the user may view other users, either individually or in the aggregate,to determine how their individual rate compares to the other's, andascertain how to alter behavior in order to affect their rate. Forexample, if the user observes that a comparison group drives three milesper hour slower on average and this behavior reduces the effectivepremium by 10%, the user may be inclined or encouraged to alter hisbehavior in order to receive similar reductions in premium.

Several components are involved in various embodiments to enable aninsurance company to adjust an insurance premium. FIG. 2 is a diagramillustrating an example of components used by an insurance company toadjust an insurance premium, according to an example embodiment.Components include the insurance company 200, vehicle operationinformation 202, onboard vehicle system 204, and automobile automationcomponent 206.

The insurance company 200 may be in communication with the vehicle 106via a wireless link 208. In some embodiments, the insurance company 200monitors and collects information from the vehicle about the vehicle'soperation, its passengers, the vehicle's environment, or other dataavailable to the vehicle 106. The wireless link 208 may be establishedusing various communication protocols, including but not limited to IEEE802.11 protocols, WiMAX (IEEE 802.16d/16e), Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Personal Communications Service (PCS), cellularcommunication, and satellite communications.

Communication between the insurance company 200 and the vehicle 106 maybe bidirectional. In an embodiment, the insurance company 200communicates a query to the vehicle 106. In an embodiment, the query isused to determine an operational state, a driver, or an environmentalcondition of the vehicle 106. For example, the insurance company 200 mayquery the vehicle 106 to determine the current driver of the vehicle106. As another example, the insurance company 200 may query the vehicle106 to determine the vehicle's current speed, heading, location, orother vehicle telemetry data. The onboard vehicle system 204 may gatherand maintain such data during the operation of the vehicle 106.

The vehicle 106 may automatically reply to an insurance company's query.In another example, a person may reply to the insurance company's query.For example, a query communicated to the vehicle 106 may be presentedfor a user, such as on a touchscreen dashboard display. The user mayrespond to the query by activating the touchscreen display. FIG. 3 is anexample of a user interface, discussed further below.

The insurance company 200 may use the information obtained in variousways. In one example embodiment, the insurance company 200 may adjust aninsurance premium for an insurance policy insuring the vehicle 106 basedon the information obtained. In another example, the insurance company200 may determine a travel route and communicate the route to thevehicle 106 or people in the vehicle 106. Other information may becommunicated to the vehicle 106 or people in the vehicle 106.

In the example illustrated, the vehicle 106 may include one or moreintelligent systems implemented, managed, or maintained by the onboardvehicle system 204. Intelligent systems include but are not limited to:(1) a road-minder system that prevents a driver from inadvertentlysteering a vehicle off of the road; (2) a safe-following-distance systemthat prohibits the driver from closing to less than a threshold distancefrom the vehicle it is following; (3) an automatic braking system thatslows or stops the vehicle in an effort to avoid or minimize damage inan anticipated or imminent collision; (4) a lane-change system thatcorrects and maintains a vehicle's orientation in a driving lane; (5) anautomatic control system that is able to take over for a driver andoperate the vehicle after the vehicle has been started and driven to aparticular location; and (6) an origin-to-destination system where avehicle is automatically navigated and driven from a starting locationto an ending location without driver input. Other systems, such asobstacle avoidance systems, speed control systems, geo-fencing coupledwith vehicle disable systems, and the like may be used to control thetime, place, and manner of driver performance or vehicle activity. Inaddition, the vehicle 106 may be equipped with health monitoring devicesto monitor occupants.

Thus, to implement, manage, or maintain intelligent systems, the onboardvehicle system 204 may include apparatus such as sensor systems, controlsystems, and interface systems. Sensor systems may include devices suchas laser rangefinders, radar, global positioning system (GPS), cameras(including infrared), gyroscopes, and radio frequency identificationtransceivers. Such sensor systems may be used to determine the vehicle'sattitude, position, heading, velocity, location, acceleration, operationhistory, and the like. Sensor systems may also be used to sense objectsaround the vehicle 106, such as other vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists,buildings, traffic signs, traffic lights, intersections, bridges, andthe like.

The control systems are the brains of the onboard vehicle system 204.Control systems use the data gathered by the sensor systems to controlthe vehicle, or a subsystem of the vehicle, in an appropriate manner.Control systems may implement a neural network to learn behaviorpatterns of a driver and configure intelligent systems based on thebehavior patterns. Control systems may also implement business rules, orother conditional behavior, which may be provided by the insurancecompany 200.

The interface systems may be used to interface with the driver or otheroccupant of the vehicle 106. To achieve this interface, the interfacesystems may include input and output devices including but not limitedto keyboards, touchscreens, microphones, scroll wheels, displays,speakers, and haptic systems.

Vehicle operation information 202 may be communicated periodically orregularly from the vehicle. As an example, the vehicle operationinformation 202 may be transmitted at or near real-time to the insurancecompany 200. As another example, the vehicle operation information 202may be transmitted monthly to the insurance company 200. As anotherexample, the vehicle operation information 202 may be transmitted uponissuance or renewal of an insurance policy for the vehicle 106. Othertime intervals are considered within the scope of this disclosure.

The onboard vehicle system 204 may include a transceiver to send andreceive information from systems internal and external to the vehicle.The vehicle communication system may be a manufacturer-installed systemor an after-market system. In addition, use of the vehicle communicationsystem may be encouraged or required by the insurance provider. Forexample, in the case where the policyholder owns the vehicle, theinsurance provider may incent the policyholder to install and use thevehicle communication system by offering a premium reduction ordiscount. In the case where the policyholder does not own the vehicle,e.g., renting, leasing, or paying off an existing loan, the policyholdermay be required by the lien holder to use an onboard vehicle system 204.

The onboard vehicle system 204 may be configured to continually, orperiodically, transmit information to an external destination, such asan insurance company 200. Alternatively, the onboard vehicle system 204may only activate on certain conditions, such as after sensing anaccident. The onboard vehicle system 204 may be integrated with avehicle tracking system to track location of the vehicle, a vehiclemonitoring system to track use and condition of the vehicle, or othervehicle-related systems installed on the vehicle.

Listed and explained below are alternative embodiments of onboardsensors, which may be connected to the onboard vehicle system 204 andutilized to collect and process data.

Examples of Drivetrain Sensors:

-   -   a. Camshaft Position Sensor    -   b. Coolant Temp    -   c. Crankshaft Position Sensor    -   d. Engine Knock    -   e. Fuel Evaporative    -   f. Fuel Temp    -   g. Intake Air Temp    -   h. Manifold Absolute Pressure (MAP)

Examples of Vehicle Control Sensors:

-   -   a. Brake Pressure & Temp    -   b. Remote Acceleration    -   c. Vibration Sensor    -   d. Wheel Speed    -   e. Wheel Slippage    -   f. Pump Motor Speed    -   g. Suspension Position    -   h. Transmission Speed

Examples of Safety & Security Sensors:

-   -   a. Antilock Brakes    -   b. Adaptive Cruise Control    -   c. Child Detection    -   d. Driver ID    -   e. Impact Sensors (Accelerometer)    -   f. Seat Belt Pre-tensioners    -   g. Theft Protection    -   h. Door/Hood Position Switch    -   i. Glass Breakage Sensor

Examples of Passenger Comfort Sensors:

-   -   a. Coolant Level    -   b. HVAC Temp    -   c. Humidity    -   d. Parking Brake Position    -   e. Washer Fluid Level

Examples of Emission Control Sensors:

-   -   a. Catalytic Converter Temp    -   b. EGR    -   c. Mass Airflow Sensor    -   d. Oxygen Sensor

Examples of Crash Avoidance Sensors:

-   -   a. Collision Warning Detection    -   b. Driver Drowsiness Sensor    -   c. Lane Departure Sensor    -   d. Lane Radar    -   e. Occupant Weight Sensor

Examples of Passenger Convenience Sensors:

-   -   a. Remote Keyless Entry    -   b. Rain Sensor    -   c. Global Position Satellite Monitor    -   d. Window Fog    -   e. Dashboard Lighting

Examples of Vehicle Maintenance Sensors:

-   -   a. Coolant Level    -   b. Fluid Level Sensors (Brake, Oil, Transmission, Power        Steering, etc.)    -   c. Suspension Position    -   d. Tire Pressure Monitor

Examples of Hybrid & Fuel Cell Variables Sensors:

-   -   a. Hydrogen Leak Detector    -   b. Magnetic Electric System    -   c. Pressure Sensor    -   d. Flow Sensor    -   e. Temperature Sensor

Additional Sensors:

-   -   a. Impact Location on Car and Severity    -   b. Driver vitals and statistics    -   c. Surrounding Vehicles based on wireless (or other) signal and    -   signature of vehicle    -   d. Object Recognition and alert

NHTSA Black Box Standards (Current Standard):

-   -   a. Vehicle longitudinal acceleration    -   b. Delta V    -   c. Indicated (Speedometer) travel speed    -   d. Engine RPM    -   e. Engine Throttle Position %    -   f. Service Brake Status    -   g. Ignition Cycle    -   h. Safety Belt Status    -   i. Status of Vehicle Air Bag    -   j. Throttle Positions    -   k. Elapsed time to all bag(s)    -   l. Capture 3 events in multi-car crash    -   m. DATA Possible from ECM Sensors:    -   n. Trip Mileage (Mileage from key-on to key-off)    -   o. Work/Hour (Timestamp from key-on to key-off)    -   p. Date/Time (Timestamp from key-on to key-off)    -   q. Trip Speed    -   r. Top Trip Speed    -   s. # High RPM    -   t. # High Break Pressures    -   u. ABS engagement    -   v. Angular velocity    -   w. Axle yaw rate    -   x. Average Mileage (Trip, Daily, Monthly, and etc)    -   y. Average Driving Conditions (Days, Times, Heavy Traffic, Stop        & Go)    -   z. Days/Times (Day/Time Regression Analysis)    -   aa. Traffic Conditions (Heavy Traffic=high Work/Hour to Trip        Mileage ratio)    -   bb. Driver Drowsiness (Blink Rate Sensor or Lane Departure        Sensor)    -   cc. G-force    -   dd. Point of Impact (Vehicle Accelerometers, Nano technology        paint)    -   ee. Racing (Frequent High RPM, Gas Mileage, and Vehicle accels,        decels, and skid factors.)    -   ff. Tangential velocity    -   gg. Speed at Impact

The policyholder or other users of the onboard vehicle system 204 may beprovided an interface to configure the onboard vehicle system 204. Forexample, the onboard vehicle system 204 may interface with a navigationsystem in the vehicle and allow a person to configure aspects of theonboard vehicle system 204 operation via the navigation systemsinterface. Vehicles may have a vehicle control system to control climatesettings, entertainment systems, or other features installed in avehicle. The onboard vehicle system 204 may interface with such avehicle control system.

As another example, an internet-based interface may be provided to thepolicyholder or other user. The internet-based interface may be accessedvia a mobile device (e.g., cellular phone or smart phone), ageneral-purpose computer, a kiosk, or other access device.

Using an onboard interface or an network-based interface, thepolicyholder or other user may configure various aspects of the onboardvehicle system 204 operation, such as how data is sensed, collected,transmitted, received, or used.

FIG. 3 is a user-interface 300, according to an example embodiment. Inthe example shown, a user is provided with potential insurance premiumrates. The user-interface 300 may be provided upon detecting that thevehicle is occupied. Various technologies may be used to detect thedriver's presence, including but not limited to an interior motiondetection system, a power door lock system, a weight scale incorporatedinto the driver's seat, an intelligent key fob, voice recognition, imagerecognition, and the like. The user-interface 300 may be provided via aninterface system of the onboard vehicle system 204. For example, thevehicle may be equipped with a dashboard display, a heads-up display(HUD), or other auxiliary display. In other examples, the driver isqueried by way of a personal communication device, such as a personaldigital assistant (PDA), cellular phone, smart phone, portable computer,or other communication device.

The insurance company 200 is able to collect data from the vehicle 106and the automobile automation component 206 to adjust insurance premiumsor policy features and remotely monitor traffic, weather, and vehicleoperation.

In some embodiments, sensor information is delivered to an insurancepremium calculator. The insurance premium calculator may be hosted by aninsurance company 200. Alternatively, the insurance premium calculatormay be installed at the vehicle 106. Thus, as may be appreciated throughthe discussion of FIGS. 2 and 3, the insurance premium calculator isconfigured to receive data, such as vehicle operation data, vehicleoccupant data, and environmental data. This data is used by theinsurance premium calculator to derive a premium for insurance coverage.The following paragraphs include various examples of using sensor datawhen calculating insurance premiums.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the automobile automation component 206includes devices, apparatus, machines, computers, or other items used bythe onboard vehicle system 204 to provide intelligent vehicle features.While some onboard intelligent vehicle systems use existing roadmarkings, street signs, mile markers, and other traditional objects,more advanced intelligent vehicle systems may use specific transceivers,transponders, or electronic signals, to operate. For example, highwayautomation systems may have “machine-readable” signs, marks, or otherindicia to provide road boundaries, speed limits, restricted zones, orother traffic guidance to the onboard system.

In some example embodiments, the insurance company 200 communicates withthe automobile automation component 206. For example, the automobileautomation component 206 may gather information about trafficcongestion. After obtaining the information of traffic congestion, theinsurance company 200 may suggest a different route, inform the driverof a potential insurance rate change, or provide other advice orinformation to occupants in the vehicle 106 over communication link 208.Similarly, automobile automation component 206 may gather, sense, orprovide information of other traffic-related data, such as accidents,weather, road conditions, construction, and special events (e.g.,parades, politician visit, marathons).

Examples of Using Sensor Data

Some vehicles include a collision avoidance system or other system ableto detect the proximity of other nearby vehicles. Thus, in anembodiment, data indicating how closely a driver is following anothervehicle is used to affect the insurance rate. For example, the amount oftime a driver follows other vehicles too closely may be converted to apercentage. If the percentage exceeds a threshold, the insurance premiummay be adjusted. For example, if a driver follows other vehicles tooclosely more than 50% of the time, the driver's insurance premium may beincreased by some value or percent. The term “too close” may beconfigurable by the insurance company. In some cases, the two-secondrule may provide a good baseline for determining what distance is “tooclose” for following. The two-second rule refers to a following distancewhere the vehicle following takes at least two seconds to reach the sameposition as the lead vehicle. The distance is a linear function ofvelocity. If an insurance company desires its insured drivers topractice a higher level of safe driving, the threshold may be increased,such as distance based on a three-second rule. The driver may eventuallylower the premium if they drive without following too closely for athreshold period, such as thirty days.

Vehicles may be equipped with GPS and navigational systems. With suchsystems, an insurance company may be able to determine how often adriver exceeds a posted speed limit. Similar to the example in thepreceding paragraph, the amount of time driving at an excess speed maybe calculated and compared to the overall driving time. Then, based onthe actual time driving at an excess speed, a percentage of driving atan excess speed, or a number of times the driver is identified asdriving at an excess speed, the insurance premium calculator may derivean insurance premium that is higher than a previous premium. The drivermay eventually lower the premium if they drive without exceeding theposted speed limit for a threshold period, such as thirty days.

In some cases, when several vehicles are relatively close to each otheron the road, the insurance premium calculator may access data of theother vehicles and determine how the other vehicles are operating. Indoing so, the insurance premium calculator may be able to determinewhether the driver's behavior is aberrant in comparison to otherdrivers. For example, during a rainstorm, the insurance premiumcalculator may determine that other drivers are driving at 10 miles perhour slower than the monitored driver is driving. As a result, themonitored driver may have their insurance premium increased as areflection of the inferred unsafe driving activity.

In the context of a driverless vehicle, other situations may be used toadjust an insurance premium. In an embodiment, whether there are anyoccupants is a determining factor for an insurance premium. When thereis an occupant, in an embodiment, the amount of time the occupantactively drives the vehicle may be used to determine or adjust theinsurance premium. Further, in an embodiment, the identity of theoccupant who is actively driving the vehicle is used as a factor in theinsurance premium calculation. In contrast, when there are no occupants,insurance premiums and coverages may be adjusted to reflect the reducedrisk. For example, when the vehicle is empty, certain medical paymentsor person injury coverages may be suspended and the associated premiummay be removed during the portion of the vehicle's operation withoutoccupants.

Because a driverless vehicle may not be actively driven by a person forat least some of the distance driven in a given period (e.g., year), theinsurance company may use two metrics when determining an insurancepremium for a driverless vehicle: the distance actively driven in aperiod, and the distance operated in the period. For example, an insuredthat has a driverless vehicle that is operated for 12,000 miles peryear, but only actively drives the vehicle for 200 miles per year willlikely pay less in insurance premiums than an insured that operatestheir vehicle for 12,000 miles per year and actively drives it for 4,000miles. This is assuming that other characteristics of the drivers areapproximately the same, such as age and location. The difference inpremiums reflects the difference in risks. A person who actively drivesthe vehicle more in a given period is assumed to have a higher risk ofhuman error, which may result in an insurable loss.

In addition, when an occupant in a driverless vehicle takes control ofthe vehicle, the insurance premium calculator may identify the driver'sidentity and evaluate the skills of the driver to affect the insurancepremium rate. For example, a teenaged occupant may enjoy a lowereffective insurance premium while not actively driving the vehicle, butonce the teenager takes over control, the insurance premium may beincreased to adjust for the increased risk. When an adult operator takesover operation of the vehicle, the insurance rate may also increase, butlikely to a lesser amount than that of a teen driver.

In intelligent vehicles, including driverless vehicles, some featuresmay differ from vehicle model to vehicle model. Thus, in an embodiment,the specific features of the intelligent vehicle may be used to adjustthe insurance premium. For example, one manufacturer may offer a vehiclewith a laser-based distance control system, and another manufacturer mayoffer a vehicle with a camera-based distance control system. Based onfield tests or actual loss data, the insurance premium for one vehiclemay differ from another vehicle reflecting the effectiveness of thecorresponding distance control systems.

Examples of Using Data Related to Repair and Maintenance

Use of maintenance and repair history may be used by the insurancepremium calculator to adjust rate. In an embodiment, maintenance andrepair history is maintained at an onboard system in an intelligentvehicle. Intelligent vehicles are capable of performing someself-diagnostics. When a repair or maintenance activity is performed onthe vehicle, the vehicle may be able to log the repair or maintenanceactivity and report it to the insurance premium calculator. By havingthe vehicle monitor and report repair and maintenance activity, theinsurance company is assured that the information is not altered. Inaddition, the insurance company is assured that the information isdelivered timely and secured.

Because an intelligent vehicle is able to monitor its own systems, theintelligent vehicle may report impending or existing events. Events maybe vehicle-related events, such as low tire pressure, a periodicmaintenance interval, or low gas. Events may also be environmentalevents, such as rain or hail. Based on the type of event, the insurancecompany may direct the vehicle to perform an automated action. Forexample, when the vehicle reports low tire pressure, the insurancecompany may, after receiving permission from the owner, direct thevehicle to drive itself to a repair shop to have its tires inflated. Asanother example, after receiving information that a hailstorm isapproaching a vehicle's location, the insurance company may direct thevehicle to a location that is covered or otherwise protected until thestorm passes. Such automated actions may reduce the losses and exposuresto the insurance company.

Examples of Using Biometric Data

Some intelligent vehicles may have biometric monitors integrated intotheir sensor array. A vehicle with these types of systems may call forhelp when an occupant is determined to be having a medical problem. Forexample, an occupant's heart rate may be monitored by an onboardbiometric monitor. When the heart monitor determines a potential healthevent, the health monitor may query the occupants for confirmation,contact emergency response services, contact family or other emergencycontacts, contact an insurance company, log such events, or adviseoccupants of medical treatment.

Additionally, when a medical emergency occurs, a driverless vehicle maytake control of the vehicle to safely guide it to the shoulder(emergency lane) and activate hazard flashers, for example.

The vehicle may report the condition of the vehicle and the occupants toa central dispatch system, which in turn dispatches response services.The response services, such as ambulances, police, or towing, may beprioritized based on the condition of the vehicle or occupants. Usingonboard systems to automatically report occupant information may reducethe response time. It is also useful when the occupants areincapacitated or otherwise unable to call for help on their own (e.g.,infants, children, or people who are mentally deficient).

Methods of Operation

In this section, particular methods to calculate insurance premiums andexample embodiments are described by reference to a series of flowcharts. The methods to be performed may constitute computer programsmade up of computer-executable instructions.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a method 400 of computing aninsurance premium, according to an example embodiment. At block 402,vehicle operation information corresponding to an interval of vehicleoperation is received. In an embodiment, the vehicle operationinformation is received at a computing system, for example, theinsurance system 102 from FIG. 1.

At block 404, an insurance premium for the interval of vehicle operationis determined. In various embodiments, the vehicle operation informationis vehicle telemetry data, vehicle operator data, or a combination ofvehicle telemetry data and vehicle operator data. Vehicle telemetry dataincludes data that provides information of vehicle use, operation, orperformance. Such data may include measurements of acceleration,deceleration, velocity, or GPS tracking. Thus, in various embodiments,the vehicle telemetry data comprises at least one of: a vehicle route, avehicle location, a vehicle speed, a distance travelled, or a history ofvehicle operation. Vehicle operator data includes information regardingthe vehicle operator. Thus, in various embodiments, the vehicle operatordata comprises at least one of: an identity of the vehicle operator, alicense status of the vehicle operator, an age of the vehicle operator,or a number of occupants in the vehicle. In some embodiments, the numberof occupants in the vehicle is taken into consideration when determiningthe insurance premium. For example, a vehicle with four occupants mayexpose the insurance provider to more liability, thus the premiums areadjusted to reflect the higher risk. Alternatively, when the vehicle isunoccupied, such as in a driverless vehicle context, the premiums may belowered to reflect the reduced risk.

At block 406, an insurance premium pool is determined. An insurancepremium pool is money or credits that may be used to pay for some or allof an insurance premium (e.g., car insurance premiums). In anembodiment, the insurance premium pool is funded by the policyholder andconfigured to be applied against premiums determined for consecutiveintervals of vehicle operation. In embodiments, the interval of vehicleoperation comprises at least one of: an interval of distance travelledor an interval of time. For example, distance-based intervals may bebased on an expected average monthly use, such as 1000 miles per month.In this case, the interval is 1000 miles and premiums are calculatedevery 1000 miles and applied against the insurance premium pool. It isunderstood that any distance may be used to represent the interval.Thus, in various embodiments, the interval of distance comprises atleast one of: a mile, a quarter mile, a kilometer, or anothermeasurement of distance. For example, the premium may be calculatedevery quarter mile of vehicle operation, the premium then being deductedfrom the insurance premium pool.

Alternatively, intervals may be based on time, such as monthly. In thiscase, the premiums are calculated monthly and applied against theinsurance premium pool. It is understood that any time-based intervalmay be used. Thus, in various embodiments, the interval of timecomprises at least one of: a minute, an hour, or a day. For example, thepremium may be calculated at every hour of vehicle operation.

At block 408, the insurance premium for the interval of vehicleoperation is deducted from the insurance premium pool. In a furtherembodiment, it is determined whether the amount of funds in theinsurance premium pool falls below a threshold value. If the funds dofall below the threshold value, the policyholder is notified. Thismechanism allows the policyholder to fund the insurance premium poolbefore it is depleted, which would result in the policyholder having anuninsured or underinsured vehicle.

The threshold value is configurable by the policyholder, in anembodiment. A value is received from the policyholder to use as thethreshold value and the threshold value is configured using the receivedvalue. The threshold may be represented in various ways. In anembodiment, the threshold value is an amount of currency. For example,the threshold value may be $50. In an embodiment, the user is notifiedif the insurance premium pool is depleted. In another embodiment, thethreshold value is a percentage of the insurance premium pool. Forexample, the policyholder may define the threshold value as 3% of theoriginal value of the insurance premium pool. Thus, if the policyholderfunded the insurance premium pool with an initial amount of $500, thethreshold value would be set at $15 (3% of $500).

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a method 500 of providing adynamically calculated insurance premium, according to an exampleembodiment. At block 502, an origin location and a destination locationare received. In an embodiment, the locations are received at acomputing system, such as the insurance system 102 in FIG. 1.

At block 504, a plurality of routes to navigate a vehicle from theorigin location to the destination location is computed. The pluralityof routes may be computed based on a history of routes taken by thevehicle between the origin and destination locations, or even betweenorigin and destination locations near the specified origin anddestination locations. Routes may be calculated based on one or more ofoptimizing fuel efficiency, travel time, distance traveled, or insurancecost, for example. The factors used to calculate, sort, and filterroutes may be managed by user preferences.

At block 506, a plurality of insurance premiums correspondingrespectively to each of the plurality of routes is computed. Theinsurance premiums may be based on the potential exposures along eachroute, calculated by analyzing the traffic patterns, accident history,crime rate, or other metrics that may impact insurance losses. Forexample, a route through a residential neighborhood along side streetswill have a different insurance profile than a route that is primarilyon an interstate highway. As another example, a route through an urbanneighborhood may have a different insurance profile than a route that isprimarily through a suburban neighborhood, based on income levels ofresidents, the percentage of insured residents, education levels ofresidents, or other factors that may affect the potential insuranceexposures.

At block 508, an indication of the plurality of routes and thecorresponding plurality of insurance premiums is presented to anoccupant of the vehicle. One example of such a presentation isillustrated in FIG. 3, as discussed above. The plurality of routes maybe presented in any conventional manner, including but not limited todashboard displays, heads up displays, audible prompts, or combinationsof these.

In a further embodiment, the method 500 includes identifying a maximumamount available for insurance premiums in a period and removing a routefrom the plurality of routes that include a corresponding insurancepremium that causes an aggregate cost for insurance premiums in theperiod to exceed the maximum amount available for the period. Themaximum amount available for insurance premiums may be limited by amonthly or daily allowance, for example. The policyholder, vehicleoperator, or insurance provider may set the maximum amount available.

In a further embodiment, the method 500 includes receiving from anoccupant of the vehicle, a selection of a route from the plurality ofroutes. For example, the driver may select a route from the displayedalternatives. An insurance premium pool configured to be applied againstpremiums is identified. In an embodiment, the insurance premium pool isa fund managed by the policyholder to pay premiums for one or morepolicies held by the policyholder. The insurance premium pool may beidentified by first identifying the occupants of the vehicle, thenidentifying the policyholder based on the occupants. Alternatively, thevehicle may be identified and an insurance policy pool associated withthe insurance policy of the vehicle is then identified. Afteridentifying the proper insurance premium pool, the insurance premiumcorresponding to the selected route from the insurance premium pool isdeducted from the funds in the pool. In an embodiment, driverlessnavigation of the vehicle to navigate the vehicle to the selected routeis initiated based on the selected route.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a method 600 of managing aninsurance premium pool, according to an example embodiment. At block602, the insurance premium pool is established at an insurance provider.In an embodiment, the insurance premium pool is associated with aninsured party, and includes funds to be applied to an insurance premiumfor an insurance policy provided by the insurance provider to theinsured party, where the insurance policy is to cover a vehicle owned bythe insured.

At block 604, an indication of use of the vehicle for an interval ofvehicle operation is received. The indication of use may be representedby a number of miles driven, the number of minutes or hours operated, orother measurements of use. In an embodiment, the interval of vehicleoperation comprises at least one of: a mile, a quarter mile, akilometer, or another measurement of distance. In another embodiment,the interval of vehicle operation comprises at least one of: a portionof an hour, an hour, a day, or another measurement of time.

At block 606, an interval premium corresponding to the use of thevehicle for the interval of vehicle operation is determined. Theinterval premium is a premium based on the use of the vehicle during theinterval. The interval premium may be relatively small in value, such asless than a dollar, when the interval of vehicle operation is short,such as a quarter mile. Over time, the interval premiums areperiodically or regularly calculated based on actual operation of thevehicle.

At block 608, the interval premium is deducted from the insurancepremium pool. In a further embodiment, the method 600 includesdetermining a remaining balance of the insurance premium pool afterdeducting the interval premium. Whether the remaining balance is lessthan a threshold value is then determined, and when the remainingbalance is less than the threshold value, an alert is transmitted to theinsured party.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a method 700 of calculating aninsurance premium, according to an example embodiment. At block 702, anindication of distance that a vehicle has been operated in anoperational interval is received periodically. In an embodiment, theindication is received at a computerized insurance system, such as theinsurance system 102 in FIG. 1. In an embodiment, the periodic receiptof the indication of distance is performed on a monthly basis. In otherembodiments, the receipt of the indication of distance is performed on adaily, hourly, or other portion or multiple of days, hours, or minutes.In an embodiment, the indication of distance that the vehicle has beenoperated indicates a number of miles operated.

At block 704, an insurance policy corresponding to the vehicle isidentified. This may be performed by identifying the vehicle or personreporting the indication of distance, and then looking up the insurancepolicy in the operations database 118 (FIG. 1), for example.

At block 706, a base allowable distance declared in the insurance policyis identified. The base allowable distance is the operational distanceallowed per operational interval for a base rate. The base allowabledistance may be banded, such as where “Band 1” is from 0-500 miles permonth, “Band 2” is from 500-1000 miles per month, and “Band 3” is from1000-5000 miles per month. A policyholder may elect a band and pay acorresponding base price for band. This allows the policyholder use ofthe vehicle up to the maximum miles in the band for a single, base rate.Miles used over the band's limit may be billed on a per mile basis.

Thus, at block 708, whether an overage exists with respect to the baseallowable distance based on the indication of distance is determined.For example, if the policyholder elected “Band 2” and then actuallyoperated the vehicle for 525 miles in a given month, the policyholder issubject to the cost of 25 miles of overage.

At block 710, the insurance premium based on the indication of distancein view of the base allowable distance and whether the overage exists iscalculated. In a further embodiment, calculating the insurance premiumis done by calculating a per unit distance cost for each unit over thebase allowable distance and aggregating the per unit distance cost withthe base rate to calculate the insurance premium. The per unit distancecost is a cost per mile, in an embodiment. In other embodiments, the perunit distance cost is a cost per quarter mile, cost per kilometer, orcost per portions or multiples of miles, kilometers, or other measuresof distance.

While bands are discussed in the context of distance-based bands, it isunderstood that time-based bands may also be used. For example, apolicyholder may elect a band that allows for 50 hours of vehicleoperation per month, after which the policyholder is billed on a perminute basis for continuing insurance coverage. Furthermore,combinations of distance-based and time-based bands may be used. Forexample, a first tier band may be for 500 miles or 40 hours of use,whichever comes first, with a per mile or per minute charge after thebase is depleted.

The cost of the first tier band may differ from the cost of other bands,when compared on a per unit cost. The cost may be lower or higher formore miles per month based on whether the insurance company determinesthat additional usage may cause a higher or lower non-linear risk ofexposure.

In other embodiments, the base allowable distance may be personalized tothe policyholder. For example, the based distance may be specified oragreed upon by the policyholder and insurance provider and set to anarbitrary number of miles per month based on a policyholder's estimateduse. Such an embodiment may exist in combination with bands so that thepolicyholder may elect a band or may instead, elect to set their ownbase allowable distance.

While discussion of insurance pools and incremental insurance have beenin the context of vehicle insurance, it is understood that other typesof insurance products may be implemented with such mechanisms. Forexample, in the context of life insurance, insurance premiums may becalculated month-by-month based on detected or recorded personal habits.A person who smokes more than ten cigarettes a day may be rateddifferently than one who smokes less than ten cigarettes per day. Thenumber of cigarettes a person smokes in a particular day may be detectedby a biometric sensor, a gas detector to detect sidestream or mainstreamsmoke, or other mechanisms. The number of cigarettes a person smokes mayalso be reported by the person, such as on a mobile phone application.Other types of behavior and habits related to general or specific healthcan be tracked, such as sleep patterns, eating habits, food contents,work habits, driving habits, exercise routines, and the like. Thepolicyholder may be given a discount on life insurance premiums based onproviding permission to monitor their health in this manner.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a method 800 of calculating aninsurance premium for a driverless vehicle, according to an exampleembodiment. At 802, an amount of time a first occupant is in activecontrol of the driverless vehicle during a period is monitored. Anoccupant is considered to be in active control of a vehicle when theoccupant is steering, braking, accelerating, or otherwise operating thevehicle using conventional controls. In addition, an occupant isconsidered to be in active control of a vehicle when the occupantoverrides a driverless vehicle's operation (e.g., driverless mode). Theperiod may be measured in minutes, hours, days, months, years, or otherportions or multiples of such measurements. In an embodiment, the periodis a 6-month period.

At 804, an insurance rate for a subsequent period is modified based onthe amount of time the first occupant is in active control of thedriverless vehicle. For example, when a policy is first underwritten, itmay be assumed that a driver will actively drive a driverless vehiclefor 10% of the time on average. Based on monitoring the first 6-monthperiod of the policy, it may be determined that the occupant activelydrove the vehicle 25% of the time. Using various insurance models, thismay indicate an increased risk of accidents or other perils. Othermodels may indicate that active driving increases wear and tear,resulting in more frequent break downs, repairs, accidents due tomalfunctioning components, or the like. Thus, because of thehigher-than-average active driving observed, the insurance rate for thesecond 6-month period of the policy is increased by 20%.

The subsequent period does not need to be same length as the priorperiod. For example, a policyholder may opt to change a 6-month renewalpolicy to a 2-month renewal policy, or even a daily-renewal policy,where insurance rates are adaptively modified for the subsequent periodbased on active driving during the previous period.

In an embodiment, a first percentage of active driving time of thedriverless vehicle is accessed. The first percentage may be a baselinepercentage, a presumed percentage, or a previous period's percentage, invarious embodiments. A baseline percentage may be established by anorganization and may be used as a default value. The baseline percentagemay be based on actual value or statistical values, or a combination.The presumed percentage may be a value that is used for a particularinsured person. For example, the presumed percentage may be a valueprovided by the insured person at the time of the policy's origination.As another example, the presumed percentage may be a value for a type ofdriver, a class of driver, or some other demographic, social,socioeconomic, risk category, or other grouping of people. The previousperiod's percentage is an actual value of the driverless vehicle'sactive operation during a previous period. A second percentage of activedrive time of the driverless vehicle, based on the amount of time thefirst occupant was in active control of the driverless vehicle duringthe period is calculated. The insurance rate for the subsequent periodis then increased or decreased based on a corresponding increase ordecrease of the second percentage in comparison to the first percentage.The increase or decrease may be based on various statistical models.

In some cases, who is actively driving may impact the premium. Thus, ina further embodiment, the method 800 includes identifying the firstoccupant and modifying the insurance rate based on the identity of thefirst occupant. The occupant may be identified using various mechanisms,such as voice recognition, RFID tags on a keychain, fingerprintrecognition, and the like.

In a further embodiment, the method 800 includes monitoring a secondoccupant during the period. In such an embodiment, modifying theinsurance rate for the subsequent period is performed by modifying theinsurance rate based on the identities of the first and second occupantswho were in active control during the period. For example, suppose thatthere are two drivers of a vehicle, an 18 year old son and his father,who is 52 years old. Further suppose that during a 6-month period, theson actively drove the vehicle for 50 hours, while the father activelydrove for 5 hours. Because the son is generally a higher risk whenactively driving than the father, the insurance rate for the 6-monthperiod may be weighted to a higher value. If, instead, the father drovethe vehicle for 50 hours and the son drove the vehicle for 5 hours, thenthe premium may be much less. Furthermore, if the son only drove thevehicle in and out of the driveway to park the vehicle, then the premiummay be even lower for the next 6-month period. Various models may beused to determine the relative risk based on the active usage of two ormore operators during a period.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a method 900 of calculating aninsurance premium for an intelligent vehicle, according to an exampleembodiment. An intelligent vehicle may be distinguished from adriverless vehicle in that the intelligent vehicle provides informationthe occupants of the vehicle based on sensors in the vehicle. Anintelligent vehicle may be equipped with systems that assist the driver,such as a pre-collision braking system, but is not necessarily capableof taking over driving duties. Driverless vehicles may be consideredintelligent vehicles, but with the additional capability of driverlessoperation.

At block 902, an indication of the intelligent vehicle's condition isreceived from the intelligent vehicle. In an embodiment, the indicationis received at a computerized insurance system, such as the insurancesystem 102 in FIG. 1. In an embodiment, the indication is received atregular intervals. The intervals may be relatively short, such as every5 minutes, or relatively long, such as every month.

At block 904, the insurance premium for an insurance policy that coversthe intelligent vehicle is calculated based at least in part on theindication of the intelligent vehicle's condition. The indication of thevehicle's condition may provide insight into existing problems orprobable future problems. In a further embodiment, an existing insurancepolicy is adjusted based on the calculated insurance premium. Theexisting insurance policy may be the insurance policy that covers theintelligent vehicle. In another example, the existing insurance policymay be a life insurance policy for the policyholder of the insurancepolicy that covers the intelligent vehicle.

In an embodiment, the indication of the intelligent vehicle's conditionindicates whether routine maintenance has been performed or is due.Routine maintenance includes activities such as rotating tires, oilchanges, coolant changes, lubrication service, and the like. Routinemaintenance increases reliability of vehicles and generally reduces therisk of a catastrophe due to malfunctions.

In an embodiment, the indication of the intelligent vehicle's conditionindicates whether pending repairs has been performed or is due. Somepending repairs do not render the vehicle undrivable and are thereforedelayed or ignored by the vehicle's owner. Such pending repairs thoughmay affect the vehicle's performance or reliability and should beattended to as quickly as possible. An intelligent vehicle may be ableto detect pending repairs and notify the insurance provider of suchrepairs. The insurance company may then use such information to adjustinsurance rates for the vehicle based on a calculated increase topotential hazards. Some examples of pending repairs include a brokentaillight, a cracked windshield, a missing side mirror, wheelmisalignment, or worn brake pads. An intelligent vehicle may be equippedwith sensors to detect these conditions and others. The intelligentvehicle may warn the occupant or insurance provider and may providerecommendations.

In an embodiment, the indication of the intelligent vehicle's conditionindicates whether a safety issue exists. In some cases, safety issuesinclude conditions that may also be considered pending repairs, such asa broken windshield. However, safety issues also include otherconditions, such as using a summer performance tire when snow and iceare on the roads. While not necessarily a repair issue, use of summerperformance tires during the winter is a potential safety issue. Othersafety issues include occupants who are not using seat belts, too manyoccupants in a vehicle, towing a trailer that is over the rated weightcapacity, driving without headlight illuminated after sunset, or drivingwith snow on the back window. Safety issues may be recognized byconsidering the state of the driver, the state of occupants, the stateof the vehicle, or combinations of these states.

In an embodiment, the indication of the intelligent vehicle's conditionis provided with a diagnostic trouble code. Diagnostic trouble codes arecodes used in the automotive industry to identify vehicle conditions.There are generic codes that apply to many vehicles andmanufacturer-specific codes used for conditions specific to a vehicle ora line of vehicles. Also, some foreign codes are available for foreignvehicles and they may not be the same as the generic codes. Codes aregenerated by an onboard diagnostics system that monitors nearly allengine controls and some other parts of the body (e.g., chassis, body,etc.). By analyzing codes, the occupant or insurance provider may beable to determine a specific pending repair or malfunction that needsattention.

Because some vehicle owners may not want this level of monitoring due toprivacy concerns or the like, in some cases, the insurance provider mayincentivize use of this type of monitoring. Thus, in a furtherembodiment, a discount of the insurance premium is provided in exchangefor the policyholder agreeing to allow the computerized insurance systemto receive information from the intelligent vehicle. The discount may bea dollar amount or a percentage discount, in various embodiments.

Further, because a safer vehicle correlates to a reduced likelihood ofinjury or death of its occupants, some insurance providers may offeradjustment to life insurance policies of the occupants of the vehicle.Thus, in an embodiment, a life insurance premium of a life insurancepolicy is calculated based at least in part on the indication of theintelligent vehicle's condition. In a further embodiment, the lifeinsurance policy is adjusted based on the calculated life insurancepremium.

Hardware and Operating Environment

This section provides an overview of example hardware and the operatingenvironment in conjunction with which embodiments of the presentdisclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a system 1000 to record andprocess vehicle data, according to an example embodiment. The system1000 represents one possible embodiment of an onboard vehicle system 204(as described in FIG. 2). The system 1000 comprises a plurality ofonboard sensors 1002 to capture data, an onboard processing device 1004,and a networking device 1006 to establish a remote connection capable ofsending and receiving data to and from external sources. The networkingdevice 1006 combined with the onboard processing device 1004 may containthe necessary hardware to connect using a wireless networking protocol.For example, the networking device 1006 may establish a networkconnection with a satellite or telecommunication network.

A plurality of onboard sensors 1002 may be connected to a vehicle tomeasure various aspects of vehicle operation. Examples of onboardsensors, which may be incorporated in the present disclosure include butare not limited to sensors for the drivetrain, engine, automotive body,vehicle control, passenger comfort, passenger convenience, emissioncontrol, electrical devices, vehicle maintenance, crash avoidance,hybrid and fuel cell management, among others.

An onboard processing device 1004 may be any device having a processoror microprocessor capable of processing data. In one embodiment, theonboard processing device 1004 may be a computer system embedded in avehicle.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a computer system 1100, withinwhich a set or sequence of instructions for causing the machine toperform any one of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed,according to various embodiments. In various embodiments, the machinemay comprise any machine capable of executing a set of instructions(sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by thatmachine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term“machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines thatindividually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructionsto perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The computer system 1100 includes a processor 1102 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU)), a main memory 1104 and a static memory 1106,which communicate via a bus 1108. The computer system 1100 may furtherinclude a video display unit 1110 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD)or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 1100 also includes analphanumeric input device 1112 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor controldevice 1114 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 1116, a signal generationdevice 1118 (e.g., a speaker) and a network interface device 1120 tointerface the computer system to a network 1122.

The disk drive unit 1116 includes a machine-readable medium 1124 onwhich is stored a set of instructions or software 1126 embodying anyone, or all, of the methodologies described herein. The software 1126 isalso shown to reside, completely or at least partially, within the mainmemory 1104 and/or within the processor 1102. The software 1126 mayfurther be transmitted or received via the network interface device1120.

While the computer system 800 is shown with a processor 1102, it isunderstood that the systems and methods described herein may beimplemented on one or more processors on one or more computer systems,including but not limited to a multi-processor computer (e.g., two ormore separate processors or two or more cores in a single processor), amulti-computer system (e.g., a distributed computing environment), or amixture of single-processor and multi-processor computers in adistributed fashion.

The embodiments described herein may be implemented in an operatingenvironment comprising software installed on any programmable device, inhardware, or in a combination of software and hardware.

For the purposes of this specification, the terms “machine-readablemedium” or “computer-readable medium” shall be taken to include anytangible non-transitory medium which is capable of storing or encoding asequence of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause themachine to perform any one of the methodologies described herein. Theterms “machine-readable medium” or “computer-readable medium” shallaccordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-statememories, and optical or magnetic disks. Further, it will be appreciatedthat the software could be distributed across multiple machines orstorage media, which may include the machine-readable medium.

Method embodiments described herein may be computer-implemented. Someembodiments may include computer-readable media encoded with a computerprogram (e.g., software), which includes instructions operable to causean electronic device to perform methods of various embodiments. Asoftware implementation (or computer-implemented method) may includemicrocode, assembly language code, or a higher-level language code,which further may include computer-readable instructions for performingvarious methods. The code may form portions of computer programproducts. Further, the code may be tangibly stored on one or morevolatile or non-volatile computer-readable media during execution or atother times. These computer-readable media may include, but are notlimited to, hard disks, removable magnetic disks, removable opticaldisks (e.g., compact disks and digital video disks), magnetic cassettes,memory cards or sticks, random access memories (RAM's), read onlymemories (ROM's), and the like.

A software program may be launched from a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium in a computer-based system to execute functionsdefined in the software program. Various programming languages may beemployed to create software programs designed to implement and performthe methods disclosed herein. The programs may be structured in anobject-orientated format using an object-oriented language such as Javaor C++. Alternatively, the programs may be structured in aprocedure-orientated format using a procedural language, such asassembly or C. The software components may communicate using a number ofmechanisms well known to those skilled in the art, such as applicationprogram interfaces or inter-process communication techniques, includingremote procedure calls. The teachings of various embodiments are notlimited to any particular programming language or environment.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein individually or collectively by the term “invention” merely forconvenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of thisapplication to any single invention or inventive concept, if more thanone is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments have beenillustrated and described herein, any arrangement calculated to achievethe same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown.This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations orvariations of various embodiments. Combinations of the aboveembodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein,will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the abovedescription.

Certain systems, apparatus, applications, or processes described hereinmay be implemented as a number of subsystems, modules, or mechanisms. Asubsystem, module, or mechanism is a unit of distinct functionality thatcan provide information to, and receive information from, othersubsystems, modules, or mechanisms. Further, such a unit may beconfigurable to process data. Accordingly, subsystems, modules, ormechanisms may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Thesubsystems, modules, or mechanisms be implemented as hardware circuitry,optical components, single or multi-processor circuits, memory circuits,software program modules and objects, firmware, and combinationsthereof, as appropriate for particular implementations of variousembodiments.

For example, one module may be implemented as multiple logicalsubsystems, modules, or mechanisms, or several subsystems, modules, ormechanisms may be implemented as a single logical subsystem, module, ormechanism. As another example, subsystems, modules, or mechanismslabeled as “first,” “second,” and “third,” etc., may be implemented in asingle subsystem, module, or mechanism, or some combination ofsubsystems, modules, or mechanisms, as would be understood by one ofordinary skill in the art.

In the foregoing Detailed Description, various features are groupedtogether in a single embodiment for streamlining the disclosure. Thismethod of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intentionthat the claimed embodiments of the invention require more features thanare expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing onits own as a separate preferred embodiment.

The description includes references to the accompanying drawings, whichform a part of the Detailed Description. The drawings show, by way ofillustration, example embodiments. These embodiments, which are alsoreferred to herein as “examples,” are described in enough detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice aspects of the inventivesubject matter.

In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patentdocuments, to include one or more than one. In this document, the term“or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, unless otherwise indicated.

As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in apermissive sense (e.g., meaning having the potential to), rather thanthe mandatory sense (e.g., meaning must). Similarly, the words“include”, “including”, and “includes” mean “including but not limitedto.” To facilitate understanding, like reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate like elements common to the figures.

In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used asthe plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and“wherein.” Also, in the following claims, the terms “including” and“comprising” are open-ended, that is, a system, device, article, orprocess that includes elements in addition to those listed after such aterm in a claim are still deemed to fall within the scope of that claim.Moreover, in the following claims, the terms “first,” “second,” and“third,” etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to imposenumerical requirements on their objects.

Although embodiments have been described with reference to specificexample embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications andchanges may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of calculating an insurance premium fora driverless vehicle, the method comprising: detecting a first occupantof the driverless vehicle; establishing data communication, utilizing aprocessor based machine, between an insurance premium calculator and anonboard vehicle system of the driverless vehicle, the insurance premiumcalculator hosted by an insurance company and remote to the onboardvehicle system; causing, by the processor based machine, the onboardvehicle system to provide at least one signal indicative of a firstamount of time the first occupant is in active control of the driverlessvehicle to the insurance premium calculator during a period; causing, bythe processor based machine, the onboard vehicle system to provide atleast one signal indicative of a second amount of time that the vehicleis operated without a driver to the insurance premium calculator duringthe period; and modifying an insurance rate for a subsequent periodbased on the first amount of time and the second amount of time usingthe insurance premium calculator; the first amount of time the firstoccupant is in active control of the driverless vehicle; and the secondamount of time that the vehicle is operated without a driver.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: causing, by the processor basedmachine, the onboard vehicle system to provide an identity of the firstoccupant; and wherein modifying the insurance rate is further based onthe identity of the first occupant.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: causing, by the processor based machine, the onboard vehiclesystem to provide an identity of a second occupant during the period;and wherein modifying the insurance rate for the subsequent periodcomprises modifying the insurance rate based on the identities of thefirst and second occupants who were in active control during the period.4. The method of claim 1, wherein the period is a 6-month period.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising causing, by the processor basedmachine, the onboard vehicle system to detect that the first occupant isat least one of steering, braking, and accelerating the driverlessvehicle; and wherein the at least one signal indicative of the firstamount of time comprises a notification that the first occupant is atleast one of steering, braking, and accelerating the driverless vehicle.6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a command fromthe first occupant to override a driverless mode; and aggregating theamount of time the first occupant is in active control while the firstoccupant is overriding the driverless mode.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein modifying the insurance rate comprises: accessing a firstpercentage of active driving time of the driverless vehicle; calculatinga second percentage of active drive time of the driverless vehicle,which is based on the amount of time the first occupant was in activecontrol of the driverless vehicle during the period; and increasing ordecreasing the insurance rate based on a corresponding increase ordecrease of the second percentage in comparison to the first percentage.8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium hosted by an insurancecompany comprising instructions for calculating an insurance premium fora driverless vehicle, which when executed by a computer, cause thecomputer to: detect a first occupant of the driverless vehicle;establish data communication with an onboard vehicle system of thedriverless vehicle remote to the computer; cause the onboard vehiclesystem to provide at least one signal indicative of a first percentageof time the first occupant is in active control of the driverlessvehicle to the computer during a period; cause the onboard vehiclesystem to provide at least one signal indicative of a second percentageof time that the vehicle is operated without a driver to the computerduring the period; and modify an insurance rate for a subsequent periodbased on the first percentage of time and the second percentage of timeusing the computer, the first percentage of time the first occupant isin active control of the driverless vehicle, and the second percentageof time that the vehicle is operated without a driver.
 9. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, further comprisinginstructions, which when executed by the computer, cause the computerto: cause the onboard vehicle system to provide an identity of the firstoccupant; and wherein modifying the insurance rate is further based onthe identity of the first occupant.
 10. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 8, further comprising instructions,which when executed by the computer, cause the computer to: cause theonboard vehicle system to provide an identity of a second occupantduring the period; and wherein the instructions to modify the insurancerate for the subsequent period comprise instructions to modify theinsurance rate based on the identities of the first and second occupantswho were in active control during the period.
 11. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the period is a 6-monthperiod.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8,further comprising instructions to cause the onboard vehicle system todetect when the first occupant is in active control of the driverlessvehicle when the first occupant is performing at least one of steering,braking, and accelerating the driverless vehicle and wherein the atleast one signal indicative of the first percentage of time comprises anotification that the first occupant is at least one of steering,braking, and accelerating the driverless vehicle.
 13. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 8, further comprising instructions,which when executed by the computer, cause the computer to: receive acommand from the first occupant to override a driverless mode; andaggregate an amount of time the first occupant is in active controlwhile the first occupant is overriding the driverless mode.
 14. A systemfor calculating an insurance premium for a driverless vehicle and hostedby an insurance company, the system comprising: a processor; and amemory coupled to the processor, the memory containing instructions,which when executed by the processor, cause the system to: establishdata communication with an onboard vehicle system of the driverlessvehicle remote to the system; cause the onboard vehicle system toprovide at least one signal indicative of a first amount of time a firstoccupant is in active control of the driverless vehicle to the systemduring a period; cause the onboard vehicle system to provide at leastone signal indicative of a second amount of time a first occupant is inactive control of the driverless vehicle to the system during theperiod; modify an insurance rate for a subsequent period based on both;the first amount of time the first occupant is in active control of thedriverless vehicle; and the second amount of time the vehicle isoperated without a driver.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein thememory includes instructions, which when executed by the processor,cause the system to: cause the onboard vehicle system to provide anidentity of the first occupant; and wherein modification of theinsurance rate is further based on the identity of the first occupant.16. The system of claim 14, wherein the memory includes instructions,which when executed by the processor, cause the system to: cause theonboard vehicle system to provide an identity of a second occupantduring the period; and wherein the instructions to modify the insurancerate for the subsequent period is configured to modify the insurancerate based on the identities of the first and second occupants who werein active control during the period.
 17. The system of claim 14, whereinthe period is a 6-month period.
 18. The system of claim 14, furthercomprising instructions that when executed by the processor cause thesystem cause the onboard vehicle system to detect when the firstoccupant is in active control of the driverless vehicle when the firstoccupant is performing at least one of steering, braking, oraccelerating the driverless vehicle and wherein the at least one signalindicative of the first amount of time comprises a notification that thefirst occupant is at least one of steering, braking, and acceleratingthe driverless vehicle.
 19. The system of claim 14, wherein the memoryincludes instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause thesystem to: receive a command from the first occupant to override adriverless mode; and aggregate the amount of time the first occupant isin active control while the first occupant is overriding the driverlessmode.